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Paul,

I think an associate to cover all the grey areas is a superb idea - the main piece of information that I would personally benefit from would be the legal requirements and legislations for both the UK and US.

As a company looking to step into the hosting world there are so many things to consider - one thing I would really love to see are Association accepted providers such as outsourced support companies tried and tested by a panel from the association. This would make choosing a provider for services to help maintain my company much easier and I would definetly feel more confident in the service knowing a team of experts had checked it all over for me.

I have carried out work for associations from other areas within the UK mainly to do with insurance - but the primary benefits are carried over to any association. The security that an association would provide is almost like a union - if anyone has questions or issues the association could take it on board and act on it in a professional manner and solve numerous issues saving everyone hassle.

Once the association is accepted as an actual 'official body' i really think the industry as a whole would benefit.

So, you've got my vote!

Hi Danny,

Thanks for your comments! You know, of all the things we've brainstormed as functions of the association, we never discussed having a division similar to Consumer Reports, for testing technology and giving full, unbaised reviews of how applications, hardware, etc. perform. I'm not even sure this is something an association should do, but that's the fun of brainstorming; you can concoct anything you'd like and then hash out the feasibility later.

Thanks to everyone who has emailed me privately. The feedback I've been receiving so far has been very helpful!

I do agree that this is a noble endeavor. The idea has been kicked around many tables and tele-conferences in the past, many of which I have been a party to, and the same things always crop up:

Who governs the governors? I believe official regulatory bodies or committee's are to be approved at government level (?)
Why do we need a regulatory body, especially a voluntary one (other major ones are money-makers)?
What legal doors are being opened, especially the bad ones?
So, you have a body, who rules on who gets in and who doesn't?
How do you handle the obvious backlash from many major players who ridicule the body/organization?
How do you drum up support, what are the benefits to a hosting provider or related vendor to supporting the body?
What steps are going to be taken so it doesn't become the next UnlimBand?

Even if done in a wholly professional manner and with the right backing, the organization could do some good. I wouldn't expect major waves, in light of the fact that it will be very difficult to drum up support from many major and medium sized players, but it could certainly go a little way to improving things (do they need improving, though?).

The people who will jump on board right away are the smaller companies. Unfortunately, that alone may scare off the big guns of the industry and all its sectors. Egos tend to run big in the industry and that is also something to consider. Is X company going to belittle Y company because they are part of the association (and vice versa)? How is that going to be moderated?

It's a big, big task. If there's anyone with the determination to do it, you may be that man, Paul. I warn you though that previous attempts have fallen on deaf ears with many in the industry. That means it will have to be water tight in order to get some backers.

Hi Simon,

I have a couple answers for you - obviously not a lot, since we're in early stages, but I left the functions of the association vague in my opening post, and in doing so, I may have left its purpose a little bit too open for interpretation. A lot of the things about which you're worried would have nothing to do with the association in the first place.

1. This wouldn't be an official regulatory body. The word "governing" was probably a poor choice on my part. Membership and oversight are completely voluntary.

2. Thus far, the only things we've discussed being "regulated" (not official regulation - suggested regulation, like W3C standards) are industry terms and certification, which again would be voluntary. We need it...because a whole lot of people have told us we need it :)

3. Criteria for membership is an interesting question. The better part of me says no one gets excluded, unless you fail to conduct yourself properly as a member, a bit like the BBB, but industry-specific. That's very much up for grabs at the moment. Ideas are welcome!

4. Thus far, the large players with whom we've spoken have expressed very keen interest in many of the functions an association like this would handle on their behalf. We're focusing significant effort on services for companies of all sizes, including the GoDaddys, 1-and-1s and Yahoo!s of the world. If we get ridiculed and it's legitimate, we look at what we're doing wrong and fix it. If it's not legitimate, we keep doing what works and don't get caught up in egos. "We," by the way, is an open term for all members, not just the core ones who are working on this now. We're creating this, but it's owned by it's members and even with a board, it is largely governed by members as well. At least that's the current vision. Everything will be refined over time.

5. If you have something really good and a ***good plan to communicate it***, support will come. There will be a HUGE list of reasons to support the association. This discussion is about finding out reasons more people might have that we haven't heard or brainstormed ourselves :)

The benefits for small and medium size companies will be very obvious, and mostly center around collective buying power.

We have a list of 6-8 items that will make the organization vital to large companies, but you are absolutely correct. Large companies have less to gain through associations, and making this matter to them remainsa high priority as we continue to research. What ideas do you have?

Hi Paul,

Don't get me wrong: I have always been a staunch supporter of the idea in general (I sense your reply was a little defensive).

In my opinion, the biggest gap in the industry right now is education. That is both from a client and provider perspective, but mainly the provider. Could the association do some good there? How about the members holding open forums and seminars (web based?) that lend a hand to "smaller" providers, even if only to try and ready them for growth and to try and attain some longevity. How about offering assistance, also, to larger providers (as members) in order to keep them in touch with their client base? These are sidebars to the association in general, for sure, but it would help create an environment within the assoc. of contentment.

From a regulatory standpoint, I think the allowance of all providers to apply for membership is key. There should be some screening, though, and I believe that's where the difficulty lays. What would the criteria be? Perhaps an analysis of all applicants is required? A full and thorough background check, so to speak, in addition to evaluating both what the prospective member can bring to the assoc and also what they, as a provider, are doing within the industry.

I do tend to think that going to the Yahoo!'s, 1and1's, etc, with the idea in order to get something laid down might be a mistake unless you're canvassing many SMB's also. I would also say that it needs to be divided through the various sectors of the industry: co-location providers, transit providers, hardware manufacturers, software vendors, server providers, reseller hosting, application hosting, et al.

> (I sense your reply was a little defensive).

No! Not at all! I just wanted to add some clarity, to make sure everyone understands the nature of this sort of endeavor, that's all. There are still a lot of unanswered questions. Thanks for following up with more comments.

> Could the association do some good there?

I put a checkmark next to this item on our list for you :) (we've discussed education to the point where people might even be able to earn continuing education credits good toward a degree)

I'll hold off on replying to specifics in your post (some we've considered, others we haven't, but keep it coming!). There's a lot of great stuff there - thanks!

> I would also say that it needs to be divided through the various sectors of the industry: co-location providers, transit providers, hardware manufacturers, software vendors, server providers, reseller hosting, application hosting, et al.

One of our biggest challenges is identifying segments within the hosting industry, because there is so much gray area. Not that this is bad, but it presents inherent organizational challenges. This is a great suggestion on your part for identifying those segments. If you have more ideas, please share!

Is there a governing body for hosts? I mean from t

Hi Erika,

We're in the process of trying to creat

Excellent! I am keen to participate and am delight

My query:  I am based in the UK and employed a company in Ohio - Cleveland Webmasters - to design and host my website at www.execenglish,co.uk.  Cleveland Webmasters seems to be essentially a one-man band run by 'Justin'.
Recently, Justin, the owner, sabotaged my website by taking it off line with  'account suspended' in place of the site despite having been paid in January to host the site until 2010.
This information came to me through a third party who had tried to view the site and saw "account suspended" notice in place of site.
The site was reinstated at the insistence of third party and I am unsure how long exactly it was off air.
This was a deliberate and malicious act on behalf of Justin at Cleveland Webmasters because some updates I had requested of him in early April had been carried out in a shoddy way and did not please me. However, his bill of $195 for the simple amends was paid within 20 days of its submission.   
Can webmasters do this ? There is surely a law to protect the consumer against sabotage of this kind.  I am very cross.
Your advice would be much appreciated.
Kind regards. Susan.

Dear Paul, 1 May 2009
I wonder if my letter reached you ? 
Susan.
 

Hi Susan,

I'm afraid I can't say one way or another whether the law applies to your case, because there could be dozens of different factors in-play on the hosting side.  For example, if Justin is a hosting reseller, he could have defaulted on his hosting account, which would result in all his accounts showing this suspension message.  If your account (or possibly the server) was breached from the outside and was being used for malicious purposes, that would result in site suspension too. I could come up with many scenarios in which suspension could take place in a non-deliberate/malicious way.  But whatever the reasons, this should be communicated to you by your host.

I'm not going to pass judgment on your situation, because I'm probably lacking information (perhaps you're lacking some information as well). But I will say that *to my knowledge* there are no laws that specifically address server/site availability.  I imagine you'd need to prove material damages and intent in order for the law to apply in a broader sense - this is much better addressed by a lawyer than by me.

Currently, there is no agency specific to Web hosts to which behavior can be reported or through which conflicts can be resolved.  Hopefully this will change in the future.